Kilmore Old

County : Down

Denomination :

Graveyard Name : Kilmore Old

Civil Parish : Kilmore

Town / Townland : Carnacally

OS Reference : J439512

Other Information : OS 30 Grid Ref: 437513. This is on a small road about a mile south-west of Crossgar in the townland of Carnacally and parish of Kilmore The graveyard is circular with surrounding mound and ditch and presumably was inhabited before becoming the site of a celtic church The Church was in ruins in 1622 and, though repaired, it was probably destroyed in 1641 The old Church of Ireland Church nearby was built about 1792 and the Church of Ireland registers date from 1820 The graveyard in modern times has been largely used by Roman Catholics The small Roman Catholic Church in Kitmore Village had no graveyard and is now abandoned Kilmore contains three vaults one of which (Pottinger) is set within an older stone structure but both are falling down There are a large number of uninseribed stones and the graveyard is exceptionally wild and rough Three of the stones were completely buried and had to be excavated to read them and there may well be others The oldest date of death discovered was 1715 Some of the stones appear in Memorials of the Dead (M D) and one of these is no longer to be seen See also "The Story of Kilmore Presbyterian Church --- with a History of the Parish" by the Rev David Stewart, Belfast, 1932. Further to the account in Volume 3, this graveyard has been somewhat cleaned up in 1973, though the rough nature of the ground has not been changed A few notes on the stones are worth making.